George Lee

tolteq

Right now i am watching tossers bickering in the seanad about george lee

do you think they are afraid of him.

i think people will vote for him in their droves

are people out to hang the government, whats your view.

god there's that tosser norris now. lol.

spank_inferno

I didnt see that bit of TV, but I doubt they fear the guy.

He has a unique level of recognition, but I doubt he will walk the bi-election.
Alex white for Labour may win this one.

enda1

This election will be a landslide.

His constituency will grovel at his feet cause he's really one of them. He grew up there, went to public school there and is a middle/upper midle class man with a decent job who is taking a big pay cut to help his fellow man. (not my words, just how it will be seen)

They couldn't write it.

Fulton Crown

enda1 wrote: »

This election will be a landslide.

His constituency will grovel at his feet cause he's really one of them. He grew up there, went to public school there and is a middle/upper midle class man with a decent job who is taking a big pay cut to help his fellow man. (not my words, just how it will be seen)

They couldn't write it.

Yeah..agree with above....biggest hurdle may be getting the actual nomination.

Has good credentials though..media savvy / articulate / able to see the big picture.

Probably was not the most popular man in RTE given the tetchy undertones from some of his ex colleagues when reporting the move.

Dirk Gently

Fulton Crown wrote: »

Probably was not the most popular man in RTE given the tetchy undertones from some of his ex colleagues when reporting the move.

course not, he went to the wrong party.

suckslikeafox

Doesn't matter if he gets elected or not in the grand scheme of things though, if FG get into power he won't be getting a decent portfolio. Brutons had his mits on finance for ages, he wont be letting that go and Kenny would be too afraid to take it from him

johnnyskeleton

suckslikeafox wrote: »

Doesn't matter if he gets elected or not in the grand scheme of things though, if FG get into power he won't be getting a decent portfolio. Brutons had his mits on finance for ages, he wont be letting that go and Kenny would be too afraid to take it from him

That's why it should be:
1) Bruton as leader of the party
2) Lee as finance spokesperson
3) Kenny cleaning out the ashtrays in party HQ.

However, the FG faithful are stuck in their ways and love Kenny, which shows how limited Irish politics is. IMO, Kenny was the main reason (Rabbitte being the other) why people voted FF back into power in 2007. If it was anyone else, they would have put in FG/Labour. Rabbitte had the good grace to step down when defeated, and Gilmore is a good replacement. Kenny didn't step down, even though Bruton would be much better suited to the role.

This is why I am torn between support for George Lee on the one hand, and contempt for the FG party on the other. That, plus they are blueshirt ascendency facists.

dresden8

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

IMO, Kenny was the main reason (Rabbitte being the other) why people voted FF back into power in 2007. If it was anyone else, they would have put in FG/Labour. Rabbitte had the good grace to step down when defeated, and Gilmore is a good replacement. Kenny didn't step down, even though Bruton would be much better suited to the role.

One of the reasons I didn't vote Labour last time was they wouldn't say that coalition with FF was not an option.

One of the reasons I gave Trev a preference was he said he wouldn't lead the party into government with FF.

How stupid do I feel?

FG did their job, Labour failed spectacularly.

But anyway, I think Labour could have done better if they hadn't tried to play too smart a game. It could hurt them next time around as well. "Anybody but Fianna Fail" is a real constituency out there waiting to be exploited.

CorkFenian

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

That's why it should be:
1) Bruton as leader of the party
2) Lee as finance spokesperson
3) Kenny cleaning out the ashtrays in party HQ.

However, the FG faithful are stuck in their ways and love Kenny, which shows how limited Irish politics is. IMO, Kenny was the main reason (Rabbitte being the other) why people voted FF back into power in 2007. If it was anyone else, they would have put in FG/Labour. Rabbitte had the good grace to step down when defeated, and Gilmore is a good replacement. Kenny didn't step down, even though Bruton would be much better suited to the role.

This is why I am torn between support for George Lee on the one hand, and contempt for the FG party on the other. That, plus they are blueshirt ascendency facists.

Contempt for Kenny is way OTT...Save that for Bertie and Cowen..He was in those debates with Bertie.With Bertie lying out of his skin...We have all since seen what happened..Not a big fan of Kennys but at least be objective..

dny123456

suckslikeafox wrote: »

Doesn't matter if he gets elected or not in the grand scheme of things though, if FG get into power he won't be getting a decent portfolio. Brutons had his mits on finance for ages, he wont be letting that go and Kenny would be too afraid to take it from him

He'll get finance. Bruton will be moved on to something else, perhaps leader, but it's hard to know. McDowell is joining them now too, so I guess that's justice taken.

Firetrap

I think Enda Kenny is a liability to Fine Gael. Yes, he has done a great job in bringing his party back from where it was but unfortunately for FG he doesn't have the "it" factor. It's like comparing Eddie O'Sullivan to Declan Kidney.

Back on topic, I think George Lee has got a good chance of getting the seat. He's high profile and certainly gives the impression of knowing what he's on about. Better than a GAA player anyway.

MrsJohnMurphy

Firetrap wrote: »

Better than a GAA player anyway.

Far too many GAA people in the Dail as it is, along with farmers, teachers, publicans and lawyers. Great to see someone like him coming forward to run.

Most of the current wasters in the Dail don't give a damn about the country and are only interested in milking the expenses and getting back in next time around.

I am sure he'll romp home.

mjm

jimmycrackcorm

I despise the weak-willed populist opportunism of this. Lee is only leaving his cushy RTE number to get into politics because it's a no-brainer anyone but FF seat. It's not like, despite his various thoughts over the years as he says, that he has been working away, building up the political effort. It's showmanship - an wieird Irish version of Berlusconi's political chicks.

johnnyskeleton

CorkFenian wrote: »

Contempt for Kenny is way OTT...Save that for Bertie and Cowen..He was in those debates with Bertie.With Bertie lying out of his skin...We have all since seen what happened..Not a big fan of Kennys but at least be objective..

I don't think it is possible to be objective about issues such as whether a politician is good or not, it's all subjective. However, I have no political bias, I call it like I see it, and it seems to me that Kenny is holding a lot of people back from voting for FG. There are a lot of posts on this and other fora about how the government is useless and the opposition are equally useless. I think that is a mandate to have a strong, popular leader in the FG party. Enda Kenny is despised and ridiculed by a lot of people, and I don't know anyone other than FG party members and the people of his Mayo constituence who actually like Kenny.

By the way, I'm not sure whether you meant that my comments showed an OTT contempt for Kenny, or whether you meant that ANY contempt for Kenny is OTT. I disagree with both analyses.

johnnyskeleton

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I despise the weak-willed populist opportunism of this. Lee is only leaving his cushy RTE number to get into politics because it's a no-brainer anyone but FF seat. It's not like, despite his various thoughts over the years as he says, that he has been working away, building up the political effort. It's showmanship - an wieird Irish version of Berlusconi's political chicks.

To be honest, it's better to have someone do good, even for the wrong reasons, than to have more of the same people doing bad because of corruption and stupidity.

Disease Ridden

MrsJohnMurphy wrote: »

Far too many GAA people in the Dail as it is, along with farmers, teachers, publicans and lawyers. Great to see someone like him coming forward to run.

Agreed. It would be brilliant to see somebody like him in the Dail, rather than more teachers/ publicans/ gaa enthusiasts/ sons and daughters of TD's/ general "pillars of the community" getting in.

Somebody like George Lee would be willing to make sacrifices in personal gains for the greater good and I'm sure that, should he get in, he'd be a politician of both great integrity and honesty. Maybe I'm wrong, but he really gives off the impression that he wouldnt be a cnunt.

SkepticOne

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

That's why it should be:
1) Bruton as leader of the party
2) Lee as finance spokesperson
3) Kenny cleaning out the ashtrays in party HQ.

There would almost be hope for the country if this were the case. I think the challenge for Lee, however, will be communicating his vision to the general populace. He could easily be run out of politics by those with a simplistic but populist message.

Anan

SkepticOne wrote: »

There would almost be hope for the country if this were the case. I think the challenge for Lee, however, will be communicating his vision to the general populace. He could easily be run out of politics by those with a simplistic but populist message.

I agree. He certainly knows what is wrong with the finance. Let us hope he also knows how to fix it. But will he have the time ? The danger is once elected he may spend all time preparing himself to argue over failed FF policies or defending FG statements.

ninty9er

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

That's why it should be:
1) Bruton as leader of the party
2) Lee as finance spokesperson
3) Kenny cleaning out the ashtrays in party HQ.

I can't see Kieran O'Donnell taking that one lying down either. He's the Deputy Finance Spokesperson for FG, and regardless, it's likely that Ruarí Quinn will be the Minister for Finance if Richard Bruton becomes Taoiseach. I reckon, from a hack point of view, Lee has no hope of getting anywhere further than some junior ministry like Trade and Commerce in the next 8 years, assuming FG is a party of gevernment after the next election.

Firetrap

Assuming FG gets into government, would he still be able to influence policy even if he's not given an obviously connected post? I assume some sort of deal was struck with him before he jumped ship.

I read his interview in today's Irish Indo and I do think he genuinely means well. He was on serious money in RTÉ - €150,000 :eek:

hallelujajordan

Firetrap wrote: »

Assuming FG gets into government, would he still be able to influence policy even if he's not given an obviously connected post? I assume some sort of deal was struck with him before he jumped ship.

I read his interview in today's Irish Indo and I do think he genuinely means well. He was on serious money in RTÉ - €150,000 :eek:

I cannot believe he will have agreed to jump into the FG election battle without a promise of a portfolio . . .

Marshy

He's a dead cert to win the by-election according to paddy power, 1/20 currently.

I'm still unsure whether to vote for him. Mostly because it's unclear what position he'd actually get within FG.